Karachi, September 02, 2021 (PPI-OT): View from the desk

The KSE-100 index fell below 47,000 points, closing 510 below at 46,903 level. Traded volumes stood at 544mn shares with GGL (+2.1%), WTL (-1.7%), ANL (+0.1%), TELE (-1.4%) and BYCO (+2.3%) being the major contributors. On the news front, The Consumer Price Index (CPI) witnessed an increase of 8.4 percent on year-on-year basis in August 2021 as compared to an increase of 8.4 percent in the previous month and 8.2 percent in August 2020. Hammering was witnessed in the Cement sector as coal prices went higher in the international market.

As a result, PIOC (-5.8%), CHCC (-5.3%), MLCF (-3.5%), DGKC (-2.7%) and LUCK (-1.6%) closed negative. From the Banking sector, UBL (-2.9%), HBL (-1.9%) and MCB (-1.9%) lost value to close in the red trajectory. Refinery sector gained on back of the news that Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) has finalized the modified draft Refinery Policy 2021 after incorporation of the recommendations of Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE), where ATRL (+3.1%), NRL (+3.4%), BYCO (+2.3%) and PRL (+2.1%) were the major gainers. Going forward, we recommend investors to remain cautious and wait for clarity on MSCI reclassification proposal, scheduled to be announced on Sep 7th.